


Falling Into Place

by drivinglester



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: M/M, University AU, dan is phil trash, fangirl!Dan, phil is a precious angel, repost, youtuber!Phil
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-05
Updated: 2016-11-05
Packaged: 2018-07-12 13:02:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7104670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drivinglester/pseuds/drivinglester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan Howell just wanted to get through university by doing the minimum amount of studying and using the maximum amount of internet. But of course, his life is thrown into chaos when he realizes Phil Lester is now his roommate. Oh yeah, and Dan is completely and utterly in love with him, but that will stay a secret.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. No Way

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is a repost of my fic, which will be updated at a much more frequent rate, haha. I really like this fic, but then I forgot the password to my account, which I stressed out about for a while. Then decided, oh screw it, I'll make a new one. Only then I remembered the other password but oh well. Honestly, it's better for me because I was able to go back and change things a bit The story is still the same, I just added some things.
> 
> Enjoy!(:

Dan Howell mentally sighed as he walked into his psychology class for what seemed like the hundredth time since he started his sophomore year at university. He didn’t hate his psychology class, surprisingly, he actually loved his professor and the material interested him. However, not a single person in his class seemed to want to acknowledge his presence during class. Of course, Dan isn’t usually the person to enjoy engaging in social interactions, but something about his classmates excluding him in all conversations irked him. Dan was the odd man out, always sitting in class with no one to talk to. He tended to listen in sometimes on conversations, but every time he considered adding to it, the moment didn’t feel right. It seemed everyone had a group of friends and Dan was left with himself as his own friends had taken other classes.

Whenever his professor allowed the class to work in partners on an assignment, Dan always got stuck with the person whose usual partner wasn’t in class that day. It wasn’t as though Dan was incredibly antisocial during his psych class, he could keep up a conversation, but he preferred to stay quiet and out of everybody’s way. Some of his classmates would talk to him and he would reply back cheerfully, but that ended up being the extent of his interaction with anyone in the class.

Dan took his seat and pulled out his phone. He failed to contain the smile that broke out as he saw a Twitter notification from his favorite YouTuber, AmazingPhil.

_ Super nervous to be starting my last year of university at a new school! Hopefully I make some new friends! _

Dan scrolled through a lot of the replies that Phil had sent out, a majority of them wishing Phil luck. Dan tapped out his own reply to Phil.

_ Keep us updated on your new uni life! (: _

He read it over a few times before deeming it worthy to tweet. Dan sighed as started to scroll through his feed, watching as Phil replied to some tweets. He’d be lucky to get a like from Phil, let alone a mention.

Dan spent a majority of his time on the Internet. Even he has to admit that this can sometimes be unhealthy, considering how late he can stay up watching YouTube videos. His grades are still pretty decent, but he knows he doesn’t spend as much time on his course work as he should. He spends most of his day rewatching AmazingPhil videos, and falling slightly more in love with the internet persona every time he watches a new video. Dan refreshed his Twitter feed one last time before seeing his professor start to walk to the front of the class.

“Good morning class! Today we will be starting our unit on personality psychology, which some of you may find extremely interesting.” Dan was contemplating taking out his notebook in order to actually write down what the teacher would be saying when he heard the door burst open.

“Sorry! I couldn’t find the classroom! I just transferred here yesterday and haven’t found my way around yet.” Dan’s back stiffened and his breath caught in his throat. He recognized that voice. He  _ knew _ that voice. He listened to that voice practically every day. Dan’s heart pounded in his ears as he turned his head slightly to confirm his suspicions.  

He was immediately met with the most beautiful deep blue eyes, slightly covered by black hair. Dan heard himself gasp before realizing he was even doing it. It was him. It was Phil. He looked disheveled and out of breath from running. He brushed his hair back from his face and Dan felt his face go red as Phil gave him a small smile. Dan quickly turned and looked down at his desk.

There was no way Phil Lester was in his class. There was absolutely no way his favorite YouTuber was standing just 4 feet away from the desk he was sat at. This had to be some twisted dream, there was  _ no fucking way _ that Phil Lester was in his class. Dan’s thoughts were bouncing around in his head so much that he didn’t notice his professor nod at Phil and gesture to the empty desk in the back next to Dan.

Just as Dan’s mind started to calm down, he looked up to see Phil sitting down right next to him. Dan’s felt lightheaded as he slowly took in Phil’s appearance. He was wearing a bright green hoodie (a hoodie Dan has seen many times in his videos) and a pair of jeans. It was, admittedly, a simple outfit but Dan couldn’t help noticing how nice Phil looked in it.

Dan tore his gaze away and tugged his notebook out of his backpack to hide his face as he pretended take notes during class, silently begging the time to go by faster. There was no way he would be able to comprehend anything in class today, or ever again. He just wanted to go back to his dorm and assess the situation before he accidentally makes a complete fool of himself in front of Phil. Luckily, it wasn’t too long before the professor was dismissing the class and called Phil up to his desk in order to catch him up on the weeks’ worth of work he had missed. Dan practically ran out of the class and to his dorm before he could let his thoughts catch up to him.

As soon as Dan got to his dorm room, he tossed his backpack into the corner of the room and flopped into bed. Dan had been lucky enough to get a room to himself for the semester as his roommate had dropped out right before the term had started, so he didn’t have to worry about a roommate this year. However, as Dan’s luck tended to work, it would only be a matter of time before administration paired him up with a new roommate.

As Dan lay in bed, a million emotions and thoughts were running around in his head. 

_ Alright Dan, assess the situation _ .  _ Did this even actually happen to you? _

Phil Lester, the Phil Lester was in his psychology class. That was a fact. Phil Lester,  _ AmazingPhil _ Phil Lester, sits next to him in his psychology class. That was another fact. What would he even tell Phil when he talks to him? Should he let him know that he follows Phil’s YouTube and Twitter accounts by the minute? Should he even talk to Phil?

“Christ on a tricycle, why is this so stressful?” Dan exclaimed before throwing his pillow over his head. He yelled into it for a second and then fell back into his thoughts. He was laying there trying to ignore his own thought for a few minutes when he heard his phone ding. Digging his phone out of his jeans pocket, Dan saw there was another Twitter notification from Phil.

_ My first class wasn’t too bad, and I saw the most adorable brown eyed boy in class. This place might not be so bad. _

Dan’s breath caught in his throat for the third time that day. There’s no way. Phil can’t be talking him, he had his head stuffed in a notebook all during class. Dan didn’t even bother unlocking his phone to see replies to the tweet and tossed his phone on the other side of his bed. Burying his face in his hands, Dan decided he wouldn’t let Phil know. He couldn’t let Phil know how obsessed he is with him, there’s no way.

Dan sat up in bed and grabbed his laptop off the desk next to his bed, deciding that ignoring his problem through social media was the easiest solution at the moment. Just as he was opening up YouTube, he heard a knock at the door. Groaning, Dan placed his laptop back onto his desk and got up. Didn’t the person knocking understand that Dan was trying to forget the existence of other people? He took a breath and pulled the door open to reveal the epitome of his existential crisis.

“Hi, um, I’m Phil. I was assigned this room, and I’m sorry it’s so sudden, I hope you don’t mind.” There he was. Phil Lester once again, with his stupidly adorable face and stupidly beautiful eyes, standing in front of Dan and all Dan could do was gape at the man. Phil looked even better up close and his facial features were much more defined, better than any high definition quality video could ever show. After noticing he’d been staring for much too long, Dan mentally shook himself.

“Um, yeah that’s fine. Sorry about the mess, I kind of wasn’t expecting a roommate right now.” Dan winced at how harsh that seemed to come out and he saw Phil noticeably shrink back. He wanted to hit himself for being the one to cause that reaction.

“I’m sorry if it’s a bother. I could ask for a different room assignment if it’s too much, I completely understand.” Phil backed up and picked one of his bags off the ground. Dan frantically searched for the right words to say, he couldn’t miss the chance to share a room with AmazingPhil. 

“No really Phil, it’s fine.” Phil didn’t hear him though, and continued to ramble.

“I wouldn’t want to have to share a room with someone after the semester had already started, so I don’t blame you. Honestly, they should have at least warned you or something.” Phil turned around and began to walk down the hallway.

“Wait! Phil!” Dan shouted after him before he even realized he had done it. Phil turned around, head down and shoulders drawn in. His body language practically screamed that he was uncomfortable and felt guilty. “It’s fine, I just feel bad about the mess. Come on in.”

Phil gave him a soft smile that both stopped Dan’s heart and sped it up and walked back towards Dan’s dorm. “Thank you, I really hate to be a bother.”

Dan smiled back nervously at Phil. “You’re not, don’t worry.” Phil seems to relax a bit at Dan’s words, and placed his bags on the empty mattress next to Dan’s bed.

“I have to head down and get the rest of my stuff, so I’ll be back up and I don’t have…” He trailed off and gestured to the door. Dan nodded, understanding Phil’s unspoken words.

“Just knock and I’ll let you in. I’m sure administration will be getting a key to you soon.” Phil smiled again, ruining Dan’s life, and walked out of the room.

As soon as the door shut Dan shakily fell back into bed, feeling as though he could either run a mile or sleep for at least a month. This is going to be a crazy rest of the year.

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the updated version of chapter two! I'm about to start working on the third chapter as soon as this is uploaded, so that should be up either tonight or tomorrow!! Enjoy :)

A sharp knock woke Dan up out of his daze, and he threw his legs over the side of his bed. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door to his now shared dorm room. His shared dorm room with his YouTube crush. _Oh boy._

As the door opened, a breathless Phil holding a surprisingly large amount of bags stumbled in the door. Dan quick moved out of the way to make room for him and chuckled slightly at Phil’s appearance.

“I can help you, you know.” Phil dropped all his bags onto the empty mattress and pushed his hair back before turning to look at Dan. Dan’s heart skipped a beat seeing Phil’s eyes fully for the first time. The deep blue of his eyes met Dan’s and Dan tore his gaze away. Phil smiled softly at him.

“Thanks for the offer, but I got it all up here in one run! Although I think I twisted my ankle on the way up the stairs when I tripped.” Dan watched as Phil sat down on the little bit of space left on his bed. Phil gently moved his ankle around and winced a bit. Dan grimaced in sympathy.

“I can run down and get you some ice if you want.” Dan gestured to the door but Phil shook his head.

“No it’s alright, I’m very clumsy so I’m used to a little pain.” Dan had to bite back his tongue from stating that he already knew that about Phil. Or the fact that he knew everything about Phil.

“Well at least let me get you some pain meds,” Dan said as he started to dig through the drawer he had put all his first aid items. He stopped when Phil shook his head at that too though, and Dan couldn’t help feeling slightly offended. Granted Phil had no idea Dan was a huge fan of his, but it still hurt a bit of Dan’s dignity that the boy was pushing away his requests for help.

“No really I’m alright. Just need to walk it off a bit.” Phil’s actions defied his words as he winced again standing up.

Dan sighed and sat down on his bed, placing him closer to Phil than he’s been in his life. Phil sat back down on his bed too and groaned as he looked over at all his bags.

“I suppose I should start unpacking. Do you mind…?” Phil’s voice trailed off as he gestured around the room. It was then Dan noticed that he had placed his stuff into any and every open spot in the room and hadn’t even attempted to move things around for Phil.

“Ahh shit yeah sorry I just have to move stuff around and then make sure you have enough room oh my god I’m already a horrible roommate. It’s no wonder my roommate from last year didn’t want to share again this year I’m so sorry.” Dan had gotten off the bed and was pulling things out of drawers and tossing them onto his bed. Phil chuckled slightly at Dan’s frenzied rant and got up off his own bed to stand by Dan.

“I’m willing to help, considering I’m the one that suddenly moved in.” Dan plopped down next to the dresser he had been cleaning out and looked up at Phil. “Besides, you can’t be that bad of a roommate considering you’ve been so nice to me so far.” Dan felt his face warm up and scooted around to clean out the dresser still and hide his face from Phil’s view.

“If you want, feel free. As long as you let me help you unpack.” He glanced back at Phil, who shrugged and sat down next to Dan. Even though there was at least two feet between them, Dan felt as though the warmth of Phil’s body was suffocating him. _How am I ever going to get through this year?_

 

Just two hours later, Phil was unpacked and had his stuff put away inside the room. The only thing he left was a rather large duffel that he insisted on just shoving in the closet. Dan didn’t feel like asking what it was and Phil didn’t offer any clue as to what it could be. Dan had his guesses, considering he knew Phil was a YouTuber, and was assuming it was his camera equipment.

It was nearing dinnertime and Dan and Phil had both ended up laying on their beds scrolling on their laptops. Phil may have actually been up to something productive, but Dan was distracted every ten minutes with thoughts of Phil. Various situations came up in Dan’s mind that would be possible ways to tell Phil that he’s been Phil trash since 2008, but none seemed reasonable.

Dan was watching as Phil was typing something on his laptop when suddenly Dan’s phone dinged with a Twitter notification. He quickly silenced it, but not fast enough for Phil not to notice. Phil glanced up from his computer and laughed a little.

“Ok this is going to sound crazy, but the second I tweeted just now, your phone went off.” Dan laughed, probably a little too loud, in response.

“That’s pretty weird, mate.” He chuckled and shoved his phone under his leg. Phil raised an eyebrow at Dan, but turned back to his laptop. Dan wanted to kick himself, he couldn’t have been more obvious. At this rate, Phil will find out that Dan knows who he is and then think he’s some giant stalker.

“Should we go grab some dinner?” Phil’s question startled him out of his thoughts, making Dan jump a little. Phil laughed at him and Dan shot back a quick glare.

“Shuttup, I was thinking! Once I’m deep in thought, I can stay there for hours.” Phil laughed again and suggested they head to the campus cafeteria to get some dinner. Dan agreed, and told Phil about how their cafeteria food was actually really good, despite what every movie or TV show said.

They walked down to the building in a comfortable silence. Or at least comfortable silence for Phil as Dan couldn’t stop internally screaming about the fact that he was about to _go eat dinner with AmazingPhil Jesus Christ what fantasy am I living in?_ As they drew close to the cafeteria, Dan was stopped in his tracks as he heard a rather loud gasp come from a few feet away.

“No way! You’re AmazingPhil! Phil Lester is at my university! Phil! How are you?” Dan was practically shoved to the side as two girls came up to talk to Phil. While Dan was grateful that both of them were respecting Phil’s personal life, he also couldn’t deny the sudden hatred he felt towards the girls. If he was honest with himself, it was envy that these girls didn’t hide their love for the adorable YouTube personality. Dan stood there awkwardly as the group of three started a conversation about Phil’s classes before pulling out his phone to text his friend, PJ.

_hey peej! you at the caf right now?_

Within a matter of seconds, PJ had replied that he had just got to the cafeteria about ten minutes ago. Dan glanced towards Phil, still conversing with the two girls and turned to head into the cafeteria.

“Hey wait up, um,” Phil’s eyes widened a little bit. “Oh my God, I don’t even know your name yet.” Dan cringed a bit, realizing that in his panic, he hadn’t even properly introduced himself to Phil. He watched as Phil said something really quick to the two girls, and they nodded and gave him a hug before turning and walking the opposite direction. Phil half jogged over to Dan and smiled widely at him.

“I’m afraid we’ve spent a majority of the day together and don’t properly know each other.” He extended a hand towards Dan, who almost immediately forgot every detail about proper etiquette, and smiled. “My name is Phil Lester, it’s nice to meet you.” Dan swallowed and grasped Phil’s hand in his.

“Er, I’m Dan Howell and I’m honored to share a room with you.” Dan winced for what could only have been the tenth time in the span of thirty seconds. _Could that have been more socially awkward, Dan? Geez, learn how to communicate._ Phil’s hand slipped out of his, to Dan’s dismay, and he chuckled.

“I’m honored to share a room with you too, Dan Howell, let’s go get some food.” With that, Phil nodded his head towards the cafeteria, and Dan followed him in through the doors.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!!! Here's my newest chapter - finally, I know. I'm currently working on chapter four, which will be less of a filler chapter than this one is. Hopefully updates will be coming every other week. Get pumped for some fic!!
> 
> Also shoutout to my AMAZING new beta, Annabel! She worked on the edits to this chapter and fixed a lot of my rambling. I literally would've uploaded a piece of trash if it wasn't for her.
> 
> Enjoy and don't forget to follow me on tumblr or twitter for faster and much more frequent updates on my fics :)  
> tumblr: distractedgarbage  
> twitter: drivinglester

Dan and Phil walked into the cafeteria together, both trying to remove their huge smiles. Dan was happy that Phil actually wanted to spend time with him and Phil was happy that he wasn’t scaring away his new roommate.

“Dan! Over here!” Phil glanced over to see a curly haired boy waving enthusiastically to him a few tables down. He looked over at Dan, who smiled widely at his friend.

“That’s my friend, PJ, he’s pretty cool. You, um, don’t mind if--” Dan trailed off, unsure of how to ask Phil to sit with him.

 

“No, go ahead, sit with him, I’ll find myself a table.” Phil tried to disguise his disappointment; he wasn’t surprised that Dan didn’t want to eat with him. He was  _ only _ his roommate after all. 

 

“No wait, wait. Sorry, that’s not what I meant, I just can’t communicate, oh my God I’m so sorry.” Dan rambled, grabbing Phil’s arm in an attempt to stop him from leaving. An action that was technically pointless, given the fact that Phil had yet to even consider leaving. Phil’s face flushed at the contact, and ducked his head down to hide his face.

“I was just wondering if you wanted to sit with us, I did know whether you wanted to. I definitely don’t want you to sit somewhere else.” Phil looked up at him and arched an eyebrow, causing Dan’s face to turn red. “I mean you are new to the school and all, and I don’t think you should be eating alone ever, let alone your first day.” Dan smiled as genuinely as he could, wishing the ground would swallow him up.

Phil laughed, and followed Dan over to his friend PJ. Dan sat across from PJ and Phil quickly slid in next to him.

“Hey Dan, how were your classes today? And who’s your new fr--” PJ’s eyes widened and Dan realized that he recognized Phil.

“My new roommate, Phil!” He said, glaring at PJ and willing him not to say anything about his amazingphil obsession. PJ, luckily for Dan, got the message and smiled brightly as he reached out a hand to Phil.

“PJ Liguori, nice to meet you.” Phil smiled back and shook his hand.

“Nice to meet you too,” Phil couldn’t help but notice how beautifully green PJ’s eyes were, and cursed whatever force allowed his new friends to be so attractive. It was really messing with his head. Phil noticed he’d been staring too long at PJ when he started to laugh. Phil blinked and few times and started to stumble out an apology when PJ stopped him.

“No worries mate, I’m not about to stop someone as cute as you from staring.” PJ smirked at Phil, causing him to blush yet again. 

Dan glared at PJ, and PJ held back a smirk. He knew Dan was obsessed with Phil, but couldn’t help messing with Dan a little.

  
Dinner went smoothly, or as smoothly as it could with Phil’s mind racing. It had been a bit too long since he had last posted a video, but he didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of Dan. 

Walking back to their shared room, Phil debated whether or not he wanted to actually tell Dan what he does for a living, or to make up some lame excuse.

Dan, on the other hand, was a nervous wreck. He was worried because Phil hadn’t said much of anything since they left the dining hall. His thoughts were cut short when Phil suddenly stopped walking. 

“Phil? What’s up?” Dan turned around to face him when Phil sighed and smiled at Dan.

“I make YouTube videos,” He blurted out, face heating up. He figured it would be easier to deal with making videos as long as Dan knew about them.

Dan gaped at Phil, unsure of how a normal, non-obsessed, roommate would reply to that. He settled with a smile and a “that’s cool” before unlocking their door.

  
  


A day or so later, Dan had just finished his last seminar, and had walked into his room to see a camera set up in front of Phil’s bed and lights set up around the room. He tried to hide his excitement, but a noise that could’ve been mistaken for surprise forced its way out of Dan’s mouth.

 

Phil popped out from besides his bed at the noise, and started flailing around wildly.

“Oh God, I’m so sorry, I didn’t think you would be back until later I’ll clean this all up I promise.” Dan chuckled, cutting off Phil’s frantic apologies    
“It’s alright dude, were you in the middle of filming?” Phil shook his head.

“Actually no, I just finished setting it up and haven’t even started filming. I’ve had no inspiration  _ at all _ lately but I got a random idea twenty odd minutes ago and wanted to film.”    
Dan nodded, and walked over to his bed. His backpack fell to the ground, and he flopped down onto his soft duvet.

“So what’s it about?” Dan turned over on his side to look at Phil, and smiled softly as he watched his roommate checking to make sure his camera was set up correctly.

  
  


Half an hour later, Phil had finished filming his video about transferring to his new university. Dan had sat up on his bed watching Phil out of the corner of his eye while also trying to get some reading done. Needless to say, he barely read a paragraph. 

Just as Phil had turned off this camera and lights, Dan let out a yawn and realized it was almost two in the morning.

“Sorry I kept you up so late,” Phil said, pulling Dan out of his thoughts. Dan shook his head and smiled at Phil.

“It’s cooll. I normally stay up pretty late, anyway.” Phil nodded and started to change into his pajamas. Dan found himself watching the muscles in Phil’s back contract as he pulled on a night shirt. Swallowing the lump that had suddenly appeared in his throat, he glanced away. He felt his eyelids grow heavy and realized it wouldn’t be long until he fell asleep.

Phil crawled under his covers and glanced over at Dan. He was facing away from him, so Phil assumed he was already asleep. He smiled gently and reached over between his bed and Dan’s to flip off the light. 

“Night Dan.”

“Mmm, night AmazingPhil.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOOOOoooh a twist!!! How will Dan explain himself or will Phil even bring it up?? Who knows??? STAY TUNED!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! This chapter was written about a month ago but I had to get a new computer and thus was without a computer of my own for almost the entire month!! It was horrible, but now I'm back and excited to continue this story. This chapter is super cute in my opinion and I hope you all like it. Once again, this was beta'd by the lovely Annabel. 
> 
> follow me:  
> @drivinglester  
> distractedgarbage.tumblr.com
> 
> message me or tweet me and i'll be happy to respond! :D

Phil’s whole body froze in place, and Dan’s eyes shot open as they realised what had just happened.

“I..” Dan scrambled to find a way to explain himself and looked over to see Phil’s face had gone pale. Dan felt his eyes well up, and his face turn red as he grabbed his phone off the charger and bolted out of the room. The door slammed behind him as he fell to the ground releasing a groan.

Phil probably thought he was a stalker or a freak. There was no way he would want to stay with Dan after finding out he’s a fanboy.

His phone dinged, but he ignored it, choosing instead to bury his face in his hands and curse himself for being so careless. He stayed quiet, as the last thing he wanted to do was wake up the rest of his hall. 

A hand touched his shoulder, and he jumped, his head shooting up in shock and thumping into the wall behind him. 

He rubbed his head and looked up to see Phil. His face flushed even redder, and he rubbed his face lightly as he looked away. Phil silently sat down next to him, and Dan blinked hard, holding back tears of embarrassment, realising that this was the moment Phil told him that he had to find a different room, that he couldn’t room with a stalker fan, and that he thought Dan was a creep. 

Phil’s eyes widened as he watched the younger boy shift as a couple of tears slipped out and instinctively pulled Dan into a hug. Dan felt another wave of humiliation run through his body but sunk into the hug nonetheless.

“Are you upset because I know you watch my videos?” Phil asked gently, tightening his grip on Dan’s side. Phil liked Dan, whether he was a fan or not, and worried for his wellbeing. It didn’t make sense to him that Dan was so upset over something like this.

Dan nodded and pushed the hair that had fallen into his eyes out of the way. 

“I can't believe I was so stupid," he mumbled to himself. He continued to talk but addressing Phil instead. "I’m sorry you think I’m a stalker now,” He muttered into Phil’s side, feeling tears build up yet again. He was tired, which wasn’t helping the situation. Trying to control your emotions after it passes one in the morning wasn’t a simple task. He felt Phil’s side rumble with laughter and pushed off him to glare at him. However, he was sure it wasn’t very threatening considering he still had tears running down his face. 

“I don’t think you’re a stalker, I think it’s super cool that you’re a fan. I normally only meet girls who watch my videos, so it’s good to know that I have some demographic in the attractive male section.” Phil smiled widely at him as Dan’s face flushed even more. He let his hand find Dan’s and hooked their pinkies together. Dan smiled softly at Phil, even though his heart was threatening to burst out of his chest.

“Let’s head up to bed now, okay? Tomorrow’s Saturday and we can talk more about this when you're less tired. Seriously, you look like you're about to pass out,” Phil snickered, and Dan rolled his eyes. Phil stood up and stuck a hand out to help Dan up.

“For the record, I’m not an attractive male. I’m just some nerdy potato who happens to watch your videos,” Dan said as they walked back into their shared room. Phil glanced at Dan as he climbed into bed, only to see the brown haired boy standing awkwardly by his bed. 

“Just because you don’t think you’re attractive doesn’t mean you aren’t. Goodnight Dan.” Dan smiled gently and climbed into his own bed. 

“Night Phil.”

  
  


They had talked the next day after Dan’s meltdown over coffee, and Phil admired how much Dan loved his videos. Sure, it was nice to hear from fans about how much they loved his videos, but for some reason Dan’s compliments made his heart swell with pride.

 

Dan and Phil grew closer over the next few weeks of school, and Phil found himself longing to be with his roommate during times they were apart. 

Autumn half-term came and went, and Dan was due to return to uni on the Friday after visiting his parents. Phil had decided to stay in the dorms since he had a project due just two days after the holiday ended. Unfortunately for Phil, the project had only taken about two days out of his week to do. He spent the rest of the week contemplating texting Dan and editing one of his videos. Friday was different, though since Dan had texted him in the morning to let him know that he would be back by five. 

Phil had gotten the message at noon and had been cleaning up the dorm room for two hours. He had just finished putting away the last of his recording equipment when he glanced at his phone to see it was 5:30 and Dan still hadn't returned. He shrugged it off, assuming Dan’s train must have run late and headed outside to wait for the pizza he had ordered earlier. He had figured Dan would be back before it came, but Phil would just have to surprise him with it right away. 

He walked down the stairs to the main entrance and sat down on a bench. After a few rounds of Rolling Sky, Phil heard distant yelling. He glanced around only to see Dan stepping out of a car. He smiled naturally at seeing his friend but frowned as soon as he realised Dan was the one yelling. Whoever was driving the car had shouted something back, and Phil involuntarily flinched when Dan slammed the car door. He didn’t get to keep watching as the pizza man had pulled up to the front entrance. He quickly paid and balanced the pizza in one hand as he tried to swipe his card to get back into the dorm building. He felt the pizza lift off his hand, and he turned to see a smiling Dan.

 

“I figured you would rather have me carry this than have another incident in which you have to pick up the food you’ve dropped on the ground again.” He chuckled, as Phil pushed the door open for Dan. Phil rolled his eyes.

“I dropped my plate once, and it was only because I'd tripped on your bag, thank you.” They headed into their room, and Dan dropped his bag onto his bed and set the pizza down on Phil’s bed.

“Ooh it's clean in here, nice j--” The rest of his sentence was cut off by Phil wrapping his arms tightly around Dan. Dan sighed and leant into the hug, bringing his arms up to wrap around Phil’s waist. 

“I missed you,” Phil said quietly, his fingers tracing lightly along Dan’s back. It wasn’t unusual for Phil to be affectionate, but something about this felt strangely intimate to Dan. He gently slid his head into the crook of Phil’s neck and let himself be held. Dan had had a rough week, and a hug was definitely on the list of things he needed. He voiced that to Phil, who only hummed in acknowledgement and squeezed Dan a bit tighter. 

“You mind telling me what happened?” Phil spoke softly, as though he were afraid the moment they were having would shatter at any moment. 

Dan shrugged, “I just ran into my ex when I was home. He offered me a ride back, and I figured things were okay, so I let him. He was civil until about ten minutes before we got back here. I don’t know, I guess I hoped he had changed.” Phil scolded his heart for speeding up when Dan mentioned his ex was a guy. He gently rubbed Dan’s side and felt Dan lift his head up from where it was resting. His hair had fallen into his face, so Phil gently pushed his hair back and smiled softly at the pink hue that had grown on Dan’s cheeks. Dan’s breath caught in his throat, but he casually pulled back and smiled at Phil.

“We shouldn’t let the pizza grow cold, right?” He chuckled as he grabbed a piece and handed it to Phil before grabbing a piece for himself.

They ate in comfortable silence while Phil played an episode of Friends on his laptop. Dan was sat on his bed and laughed at something Chandler said causing Phil’s gaze to drift to the smiling boy’s face. Dan got a hold of himself and took a large bite of pizza as he caught Phil’s glance. He chewed and raised an eyebrow at Phil who only smiled back at him.

“You’re a dork,” Dan snorted and shoved him. 

“Yeah right I’m not the one making youtube videos about how clumsy I am,” He wiped his face before flopping back on his bed. Phil threw his pillow at him, and it fell flat on his face. Dan chuckled and sat up again.

“Well I may make those videos but you most definitely watch them," He shot a wink at Dan who groaned and covered his face with Phil’s pillow. 

“I hate you,” He mumbled into the pillow, his eyes peeking over the top to look at Phil. Phil smirked and lifted a hand to his ear.

“What was that? I couldn’t hear you, did you say you love me?” Dan rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help the large smile that grew on his face. 

“I missed this.” Dan didn’t even realize he said it until Phil grinned at him. 

“You’ve missed living with your favourite YouTuber? What a shock.” He stuck his tongue out at Dan, and got up to take his pillow from Dan’s lap. He traced a hand lightly over Dan’s hair, evoking a soft sigh from the brown haired boy. 

“You know you can talk to me about anything, right? Even about that jerk who yelled at you earlier.” Phil sat down on the edge of his bed facing Dan and tossed his pillow back on his bed. Dan watched silently as Phil closed his laptop that hadn’t been playing anything for a decent amount of time now. 

“I figured you'd heard that.” Phil nodded and stifled a yawn. It was getting late, and they had class again in the morning. 

“You can tell me on your own time, or not at all if that’s what you decide. I just want you to know that I’m here for you.” Dan blushed, still not believing that Phil Lester actually cared about him. It was still very surreal but had become so usual now that Dan had stopped thinking about it. If someone had told him just the beginning of this year that this would be his reality, he probably would have laughed in their face. Yet here he was. 

“Thanks, Phil.”

He watched as Phil climbed under his covers and laid back on his bed himself. He stared at the ceiling recalling the hug Phil had given him today. He hadn’t hugged him since the meltdown he had earlier in the year, and Dan could still feel his arms wrapped around him. He sighed and smiled to himself. It had only been half a term, but maybe he was falling for Phil, but just for this moment, he was happy with the friendship they had. 

**Author's Note:**

> Stay tuned!!
> 
> twitts: @drivinglester  
> tumblr: distractedgarbage
> 
> follow me and i just might follow you back ;)


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